1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that expands the dynamic range of an image signal.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, the dynamic range of various solid-state image-acquisition devices used for electronic cameras, such as CCD image sensors and CMOS-type image sensors, is small compared with the dynamic range of a subject. Thus, in some cases, overexposure occurs in high-luminance sections, and underexposure occurs in low-luminance sections. Accordingly, a method of generating an image having an expanded dynamic range by combining a plurality of image signals having different exposure levels into an image signal for one image has been proposed. However, when a combined image is obtained by acquiring a plurality of images there is a problem in that artifacts, such as double lines, are generated in the combined image signal due to camera shaking, subject shaking, and so on during image acquisition.